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LIGHTHOUSES AND HARBOURS

Colombo Old Clock Tower Lighthouse

කොලඹ පැරණි ප්‍රදීපාගාරය

WESTERN PROVINCE

COLOMBO DISTRICT

6°56'5.2"N 79°50'34.3"E

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It stopped being a lighthouse and kept being a clock. Only one of those jobs still needed doing.

STAND INSIDE IT — 360°

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THE PLACE

A clock tower at the corner of Chatham Street and Janadhipathi Mawatha, in Colombo Fort. It was built as a clock tower between 1856 and 1857 and finished on 25 February. Later a light was put in it, and for a long time it did both jobs — telling the ships where the harbour was and telling the town what time it was. The light is out now; the clock still runs.


It was designed by Emily Elizabeth Ward, the wife of the Governor, Sir Henry George Ward.


A governor's wife designed the most recognisable building in colonial Colombo, and hardly anybody who walks past it knows her name.

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PROVINCE

Western Province

DISTRICT

Colombo District

DS DIVISION

Colombo Divisional Secretariat

GN DIVISION

LOCALITY

FROM COLOMBO

3 km · 6 min

COORDINATES

6°56'5.2"N 79°50'34.3"E

THE PHOTOGRAPHS

THE PHOTOGRAPHER'S NOTES

- Viran de Silva

ONWARD

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Or let the island choose – take me anywhere

UNIQUE SRI LANKA

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SOURCES

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RECORD

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CONTACT

Photographs © Viran de Silva
info@virandesilva.com
uniquesrilanka.com

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